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Foods and Alfie lately

It’s Wednesday and amazingly I’ve just got today left at work and then Ben and me have five days off. We’re heading to North Wales tomorrow to visit my grandparents again and (hopefully, weather dependent) do lots of hiking and walking.

I’ve had to shift a few runs around but I’m hoping to get my long run done tomorrow morning before we go. It’s a four hour car journey so it’ll be nice to sit and nap chill (Ben loves driving) after completing a long run. I’m hoping to do between 10-13 miles just to keep my body getting used to that distance before going any higher. Caution is my best friend right now.

I was recently giving the opportunity to review some Beet It sport products: the Pro-Elite Bar and the concentrated beetroot shot.

I haven’t used them yet as I want to save them for Berlin. Though I will test drive a few shots before my next half marathon (7th September – Pharmalink in Maidenhead). I’ve heard some really good things about the product so I’m really excited to try it out. And I love beetroot…The goodness in these products is all down to the nitrates from the beetroot which have been shown to help with stamina and performance (source; source).

I’m considering having one of the bars as breakfast before the Berlin marathon (obviously I’ll trial this first! I’m not crazy). For the Paris marathon I took the little oat pots and made it up in our hotel room with hot water…but I’m wondering if one of these bars and a banana might be more beneficial? I think I’ll test it for the Maidenhead half. I’m just worried it might not fill me up. It’s 235 calories which seems a little low for breakfast – but with a banana as well? Any advice would be welcome!

On the topic of food, I’ve been enjoying some really random but tasty meals lately.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash (serves one)

Small sweet potato, grated (I leave skin on)

Half white onion, diced

Couple of mushrooms, chopped

Half a small courgette, chopped

Good handful of kale

Two sausages, chopped into chunks

Large tablespoon of cream cheese

Spices (I used a Cajun spice mix which had a nice kick)

(I think I might have had the scrag ends of a stir fry mix in there as well – basically any sort of veg goes!)

– Fry the onion in oil (my favourite is coconut oil), then add sweet potato (add a bit of water if it starts to stick to pan) and allow to soften for about 5 minutes with occasional stirring. Then add courgettes, mushrooms and kale.

– Add the spices along with the sausages.

– When the sausages are cooked add the cream cheese, heat through and then serve!

Everything Salad (serves one hungry Anna)

I won’t patronise you with a recipe as it’s fairly self-explanatory. In the mix is a whole lot of veg (carrots, courgette, salad leaves, beetroot, mushrooms, roasted sweet potato) and in that mound hidden away are chickpeas. And then covered in my favourite Caesar dressing of course 😉

Feta Chicken

Feta chicken is always a normal meal during the week at ours. Sometimes done in the slow cooker, sometimes just the normal oven. I’ve written the recipe before (find it HERE).

And here is Ben’s dream meal which he’d eat every night if he had the chance…

This is actually leftovers from his pizza meal the night before. To be fair to him, he had run 18.5 miles (this was a few weeks ago…pre-injury). He ordered a large pizza, chicken dippers, garlic bread…and then consumed the leftovers (with toast of course) the next day. Jeeze. Who said runners were healthy, eh?

So like I said, we’re off to North Wales tomorrow. I’ll be saying good bye to this furry chappy tonight as he’ll be holidaying at my parent’s house while we’re away.

Alfie selfie

I’ll miss him so much. Gives me hope that when I eventually have a baby it’ll be similar feeling – finger’s crossed, eh?? 😉

Ben’s Alfie Snapchat he sent me while I was upstairs

Hopefully my parents will send some Alfie Snapchats as he loves them so… 😉

If you get the Bank Holiday off, how are you spending long weekend?

Have you ever tried the Beet It products? Or heard about beetroot as a sports supplement?

26 thoughts on “Foods and Alfie lately”

Lots of lovely recipe ideas Anna! Love the sound of the feta chicken…oh how I long for feta cheese again. Hope you enjoy your time off in Wales. I bet the views are beautiful for hiking.Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes recently posted…Labour and birth plan – #35 weeks

AWW Alfie is a beaut! His little face has proper made my day a little brighter. I must say your ultimate meal is a contender for mine… I think I’d have to go with pizza (possibly Dominos now that I’ve seen that one!) all the chips aaaand cheesecake from JW Marriot Steakhouse (these things are SILLY: http://www.jwsteakhouse.co.uk/about/jw-cheesecake.html)

I completely forgot it was the Bank holiday this weekend until I read your post! Have a lovely time in Wales! 🙂
I’m ‘any veg goes’ when it comes to my meals as well. Especially salads. The more ingredients in a salad, the better!
Dan has groaned at me a lot over the past 10 days as every day I’ve pondered out loud how our cat Bella is as she’s staying with my Great Aunt for her own holiday whilst we’re on honeymoon! She’s mid eighties though and I’m pretty sure she’s never heard of selfies or snapchats!Mary recently posted…GRIM food

Aww bless Bella. Ben and me make up stories about Alfie’s adventures that he’s having without us. Sounds rather twee and crazy typing that out…
My parents (and dad in particular) is quite ‘current’. He works in IT so he kinda has to be with the times on stuff like that.AnnaTheApple recently posted…Visit to North Wales

Aww, I wish I could puppysit Alfie! Mind you, I very much doubt I’d want to give him back – I could never say goodbye to that adorable face 🙂 Babies on the other hand…you couldn’t pay me to look after them. I have to fight the impulse to run away from them since I have such a strong aversion…I think I was born in the wrong species 😛

Beet products are interesting for sure, and the research behind them seems legit. I don’t dare to try them since I’ve suffered pretty strong allergic reactions to beetroot in the past (I have no idea why), but I think you might be okay with a bar + banana for your marathon. Really, if you can manage to stomach two I think that would be more sustaining. It all depends on whether you’re planning to take any fuel on board during the race…if not then I would be cautious about only having 400 calories beforehand (if it’s a huge banana lol) because I think about 600 would be the bare minimum to avoid bonking at the 20 mile point.

I TOTALLY agree about the baby thing. It’s like that part of my brain wasn’t installed – I see babies I feel genuine fear. Dogs however are fine!!
That’s a brilliant suggestion about having two of the flapjacks – I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not sure why I didn’t think that but it does make sense. Thank you!AnnaTheApple recently posted…Visit to North Wales

Love that pic of Alfie- where indeed are his paws??
I have tried the beet it before- I do like beetroot but didn’t really like drinking it, although I had it on salad as a sort of dressing, nice with some balsamic vinegar in there too. I have read some of the research and it sounds good, but generally I think I would rather eat the beetroot.
No idea about the bars for breakfast though- I used to have porridge before long runs, and bought the porridge pots for before the marathon, but then they had to be made with water and I would usually have milk, and before races now I tend to have toast if I am at home, or malt loaf if not. Trouble is it is hard to work out as I think you need to try something a few times to work out if it actually is good for you or not.
I totally forgot about the bank holiday- usually we have our holiday over that weekend as then Andy has to use less days, but this year I had a hen do and a family thing so we had the 2 weeks at the start instead. On the Saturday evening we are going to my Uncle’s 65th birthday party, and then on the Monday we have a family lunch for my Dad as he was 60 in the summer but was at Wimbledon for his actual birthday. I shall probably go to parkrun on the Saturday and maybe have a run on Sunday too.
Have a lovely time- hope you don’t get too stiff in the car after your long run!Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Treat your feet

I’d much prefer to eat the beetroot for definite but apparently you’d have to eat or drink quite a lot! I guess it’s easier just to shot the concentrated version? Especially when it’s just before a race.
you teachers forgetting the bank holidays! Mary said the same. It was like when I was a student at uni bank holidays just meant nothing to me as I was just going to a few lectures every week so every day was a holiday (ahh those were the days…)AnnaTheApple recently posted…Visit to North Wales

I have seen the beet it bars but not tried them, are they gluten free? I look forward to reading what you think I love the juice….I also love the look of your sausage and sweet potato hash yum!Tamzin recently posted…Workout Wednesday: My Top Five Ab Exercises

I love sweet potato hash and that one looks awesome!
I hope you have a great time in Wales. I hate leaving my cats too, which is why I am still putting off having kids, as we go away too much and obviously couldn’t leave them.Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on Healthy Carrot Cake by Dannii

Hope you have a lovely time in Wales! I tried those beet shots a good few years ago, I did think they helped with my running back then and I quite like the taste! Alfie is so cute, I love how much personality you can see in pics of animals sometimes!

Hope you have a lovely holiday and the weather holds out!
I’m sure Alfie will have a lovely time with your parents, he’s such a cutie I can see why you don’t want to leave him!Claire @ Flake and Cake recently posted…My allergy story and my secret aim

Have a great time in North Wales. I’ve used beetroot juice before pre long runs, and Terranova’s beetroot powder, I usually use it in the 3-4 days before a long race.Lauren (@poweredbypb) recently posted…Berlin Marathon Training Week 10- Rest is Best

Have a great time in Wales 🙂 I’ve not used any beetroot products, I’m not sure if I’d like them- I eat beetroot but it isn’t one of my favourite vegetables as it turns my wee pink!
Your meals all look lovely. My husband would have Dominoes for dinner every night too, he loves their pizzas- I find them a bit too salty/stodgy.Lucy recently posted…Tri Training- My Week 3